Sobi is a new bicycle-sharing system, that uses GPS and a mobile phone app for locating and reserving bicycles (Photo: sobi)

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Article Summary

Some readers may be familiar with the car2go car-sharing system, which is now in use in several cities around the world. Users locate the closest available car via the internet or a telephone call, go to it, unlock it with a chip card, enter their PIN on its keypad, then drive it wherever they want (within its range). When done, they just leave it at the closest designated car2go parking spot, where the next user will pick it up. It’s a pretty neat idea, so if it works for cars, why not bicycles? That’s where the fledgling sobi (Social Bicycles) project comes in.